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Symphony Syracuse to close concert season at St. Bonaventure University's Quick Center

Mar 31, 2014 |

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., March 31, 2014 — Symphony Syracuse, conducted by Juan Francisco La Manna and featuring internationally acclaimed violinist Mayuko Kamio as guest soloist, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 11, at The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University.
The orchestra will perform a special program titled “Music for Spring” with works by Grieg, Schumann and Vivaldi. This is the last concert in the 2013-14 Friends of Good Music season at The Quick Center.
Symphony Syracuse was founded by musicians of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra after the latter declared bankruptcy two years ago. Although not a successor to that orchestra, Symphony Syracuse’s mission is to continue to serve audiences with symphonic music throughout Central and Western New York.
“In closing our season, Symphony Syracuse has chosen a special program for the spring season including movements of the popular ‘The Four Seasons’ by Vivaldi,” said Ludwig Brunner, executive director of the Quick Center. “Friends of Good Music and the QCA have a longstanding relationship with the Syracuse musicians and we are grateful for their loyalty to our audience.”
La Manna is an associate professor of music at the State University of New York at Oswego, where he directs the College-Community Orchestra. Prior to his tenure at Oswego he lived in the Kansas City area, where he was conductor for the State Ballet of Missouri. In that capacity, he directed the St. Louis and Kansas City symphonies, and conducted the orchestra for the late Rudolf Nureyev.
During his stay in the Kansas City area, La Manna was music director of Northland Symphony and the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, and conductor at Benedictine College and Washburn University. Active as a pianist as well, La Manna has performed regionally and nationally as a chamber musician and as a soloist, both in recitals and with orchestras. He has also performed in England, Venezuela and Italy.
La Manna earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance, with high distinction, from Indiana University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Violinist Kamio, from Japan, was the gold medalist of the 2007 International Tchaikovsky Competition. She is widely praised for her luxurious silken tone, long expressive phrasing and virtuoso techniques. The New York Times has called her an “exciting young musician” and “a radiant talent.”
Kamio made her concerto debut in Tokyo at the age of 10 under the baton of Charles Dutoit, in a concert broadcast on NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting network. Since then, she has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops, conducted by Keith Lockhart; the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, with Mstislav Rostropovich; and the Israel Philharmonic, under Zubin Mehta.
She has toured with the National Philharmonic of Russia, conducted by Vladimir Spivakov; the Budapest Festival Orchestra, under Ivan Fischer; the Munich Philharmonic, under Zubin Mehta; the Prague, BBC and Israel philharmonics; and with the Oviedo Symphony Orchestra of Spain.
Kamio appeared in Japan as a soloist with the Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, NHK, Osaka, Sapporo and Yomiuri Nippon symphony orchestras; and the Japan, Tokyo and Tokyo City philharmonics.
For tickets and additional information, call the Quick Center at (716) 375-2494.
For each Friends of Good Music performance, the Quick Center opens its galleries one hour before the performance and keeps them open throughout the intermission. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on weekends.

Museum admission is free and open to the public year round. Visit The Quick Center on the web at www.sbu.edu/quickcenter.

About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. We are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.